AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn will open fall football practice Wednesday with the same lingering question that followed the Tigers in spring practice.

Who's going to be the starting quarterback?

The contenders are Kiehl Frazier and Clint Moseley. The judges are offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler and head coach Gene Chizik. The decision could come a week into fall practice. Or maybe it has been made? If so, Loeffler and Chizik aren't telling, so the race for the starting quarterback job will soak up much of the focus early on.

But there are other questions -- like who replaces 1,000-yard rusher Mike Dyer -- that have to be addressed for a team that went 8-5 last year, including four SEC losses of 24 points or more.

Here are Five Questions facing Auburn as fall practice begins:

How's the quarterback race look?

Frazier won the spring, partly by default since Moseley was plagued by a sore shoulder. Frazier won more praise in during SEC Media Days when his teammates said he looked good in summer workouts and was developing into a leader.

But Frazier's resume' is a bit thin. He threw 12 passes last year in a season in which Auburn first turned to Barrett Trotter and then Moseley as its starting quarterback. Frazier, then a true freshman, was learning the ropes, and apparently grew during spring practice with new offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler. Was it a fair fight with an injured Moseley? Moseley hit 66-of-108 passes for 800 yards and five touchdowns last season. Frazier threw for 34 yards, but was Auburn's third-leading rusher with 327 yards.

True freshman Zeke Pike participated in spring practice, but was sent home for the summer following an arrest for public intoxication, a move that took him out of the quarterback race, if he was ever in it.

Who's replacing Mike Dyer?

At Auburn, where he was suspended at Auburn before the bowl game last season; or at Arkansas State, where he was kicked off the team Sunday for a violation of a team rule?

Auburn may give Onterio McCalebb, who has quietly rushed for 2,000 yards in three years, a bigger role. But the Tigers have to determine how many hits the smallish McCalebb can take over the course of the season.

Tre Mason, who started in place of Dyer in the bowl game, says he's prepared to become the every-down back. Auburn's other choices seem solid enough in two guys who were on the team but didn't play last year in Mike Blakely, who transferred from Florida; and Corey Grant, who transferred from Alabama.

The wildcard may be true freshman Jovon Robinson, who at 6-foot-1, 220, is easily the biggest tailback of them all.

What role will Philip Lutzenkirchen have?

Perhaps the most high-profile player on the team will be a real tight end again instead of a glorified blocker as an H-back, and he couldn't be happier. He may benefit the most from Loeffler's new offense -- and the addition of fullback Jay Prosch, who is a glorified blocker, and is proud of it. The addition of Prosch, a transfer, frees Lutzenkirchen to become more of a receiver, even to the extent of lining up on the outside as a wide receiver.

Yes, yes and yes. Auburn's defenders like VanGorder's aggressive style, and his pedigree as a defensive coordinator in the NFL only gives him more credibility. The defensive linemen believe they're going to be given the green light to spend their days in opposing backfields rather than clogging gaps. A couple of other changes may breathe some new life in the defense, too, particularly the addition of Willie Martinez as the secondary coach; and the move of Tommy Thigpen from the secondary to coaching linebackers, a position he played and coached during most of his career.

Who's going to the team leader?

Some players, likely the seniors, need to step up. Lutzenkirchen said during SEC Media Days that the leadership on last year's team faded, and it showed. His demanding demeanor could prevent that from happening again, along with that of respected wide receiver Emory Blake and senior defenders T'Sharvan Bell, Daren Bates and Jonathan Evans; along with team spokesmen Nosa Eguae and Jeff Whitaker.